Another World Inside of Me
by pokemon maniac
Summary: Maka never wanted a new roommate, but when she's forced to take in an annoying white-haired boy named Soul right after her first week at the DWMA, how will she be able to handle him and her useless father at one time? Against her will, she might just start to feel something besides annoyance for her new roommate. SoMa
1. 1: The new roommate

Another world inside of me

Maka never asked to have a new roommate. It was all her stupid dad's fault, anyway.

After her very first week at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, Maka Albarn was pretty optimistic. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but she would eventually find herself a scythe, and she most definitely would make that weapon into a death scythe. One thing she most definitely would _not_ do was fall for her weapon, the way her mom had. She was determined and peppy that nice Friday afternoon. Then she got home.

"I'm home, Papa!" she called when she walked across the threshold, then she stopped short.

Maka had not been expecting to see a boy sitting on her couch in their modest apartment. Her father was sitting across from the boy (Whose posture, she noticed, was atrocious) and he was explaining something, it seemed. Her father turned when the door opened.

"Maka!" he beamed.

Maka crossed her arms. "Hello, Papa." She eyed the stranger. "Who's this boy?"

The boy looked at her, and she felt a surge of momentary panic when she saw his eyes. They were like large rubies, sparkling with dark humor and cold anger at the same time. His hair was a complete mess as though he didn't care one bit about how he looked. He had a cocky grin on his face, and his teeth were like a shark's.

Maka quickly regained her composure. Her papa got up from the couch and cleared his throat. "Maka, this is Soul. Soul, this is my daughter Maka."

"Nice to meet you," Maka said politely.

Soul just nodded.

"Maka," her papa continued, "Soul is going to be staying with us for a little while."

Maka turned her attention to the death scythe. "What? Why?"

He nervously scratched his head. "Well, you see, Soul here has nowhere else to go." He leaned close to Maka to make sure his next words weren't heard by Soul. "He's orphaned, as far as I can tell. He won't open up to me. Maybe you could try to be nice to him and cooperate for now?"

Maka sighed. Based on Soul's smug look, she was pretty sure he'd still overheard their conversation. He was not going to be fun to live with, it seemed.

But she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She was about to say something when Soul abruptly stood up.

"Hey, Death Scythe. I'd like to get my own space as soon as possible. Where does a cool guy like me get to sleep?"

"Right. It's the room on your left. You can't miss it," Death Scythe responded casually, pointing to indicate the room right across from Maka's. As Soul passed her, Maka could've sworn he muttered "Tiny tits." She instinctively covered her chest and her face flushed. Soul's grin widened.

Maka glared at him the whole while he crossed their apartment. As soon as his door closed, she turned on her father.

"Papa, where did you find somebody like _him?_" she demanded. That comment about tiny tits still rang in her ears.

"Well, I was at…um…a place," he started.

"You mean a bar?" Maka asked, not fooled by his aversion of the word.

"Um, yes, that. And while I was there, one of the girls that work there found him. He was just sitting in the alleyway, all pathetic and lonely, and, being a parent, I couldn't just leave him there."

"So you volunteered to take in some boy that you know absolutely nothing about?"

Her dad flinched. "Well…yeah…basically."

Maka sighed. It amazed her that her mother had ever fallen in love with this idiot. She shook herself. Now wasn't the time to scold her good-for-nothing father. Now she had to deal with the problem of the new boy, Soul. A thought occurred to her.

"What's his last name?" she asked.

Her papa stopped for a second. "You know, he wouldn't tell me. I asked him, but all he would say was that his name was Soul."

Maka shook her head at how clueless he could be sometimes.

* * *

Adjusting to having a boy her age in the apartment took some time. Soul wasn't your average guy, as he mostly stayed in his room and only came out to look for food. Saturday morning, she came out of her room to find Soul walking past in jeans. Just jeans, no shirt. He didn't even glance at her as he passed, but she knew her face was impersonating a tomato. He looked at her over his shoulder. He grinned an evil grin, and she slammed her door in frustration.

She leaned against her door, her face still burning and her heart hammering. He was such a jerk! She hated that Soul. But that look in his eyes…that challenging look that seemed to say "Why can't you stop staring?" really bothered her. She lightly slapped her face.

She shouldn't be thinking about this. But she wondered too. Why _couldn't_ she stop staring? Well, it was obviously because she wasn't expecting to live with such a shameless jerk right after her mother left. How was she supposed to deal with this guy on top of caring for her father? And this guy was most definitely _not_ attractive in the slightest. He just surprised her. That was it, end of story.

She braced herself and headed out of her room again. Soul was pulling a shirt lazily over his fluffy white hair, and she looked at the floor as she passed him. With his face still covered with fabric, he asked, "Where you headed?"

How had he seen her through that material? "The library. I need to study."

He finally got his fat head through the neck hole. "School started…what, a week ago? Do you really need to study already?" He calmly sipped on some soda as he waited patiently for her response.

"I want to get a head start," Maka said a little defensively. Soul took the opening.

"You're a huge nerd, aren't you? Jeez, and I get stuck with your dad, too. I'm just living in a nuthouse."

Maka's temper flared. They had taken him in, helped him when he had nothing, and he was criticizing them? "Well, that's better than living in an alleyway like a piece of trash! My papa saved you, and this is how you thank him? Sarcastic remarks?"

Her aforementioned father poked his head out of his room. "My Maka's defending me?"

"I'm just making a point, Papa," she said flatly.

He solemnly closed the door again after his head retreated.

Soul watched amusedly at their bickering. "You treat your old man like that?"

Maka shot him an angry glare. "Oh yeah? And just how do you treat your father, Soul?" She put so much malice into his name, all the hate and humiliation she was feeling into just that one syllable, it surprised even her. His response was unexpected, though. She could practically feel his mental barriers going up.

"I don't talk to him." And with that, Soul turned his back on her and went right back to his room, leaving Maka pissed, slightly ashamed…and somehow intrigued.

Maka was looking forward to class on Monday. Soul and she had already made enemies of each other, it seemed, and she couldn't wait to spend a whole day away from him. She spent almost all of Sunday in her room just to avoid him.

On Monday she got up extra early, made a quick breakfast, and headed out the door before either of her roommates woke up. She marched triumphantly to school. The sun had just risen, and the weather was pleasantly warm. Today was going to be a good one, Maka decided.

She headed for the classroom. Very few people were at school so early. Maka spotted Professor Sid going towards the class as well, and cheerfully greeted him.

"Good morning…" he said thoughtfully, trying to recall her name.

"Maka," she put in.

He nodded. "Yes, I remember now. Maka Albarn, Meister."

Her shoulders slumped a little. She was just a name and classification on his list. She always liked being friendly with her teachers. That earned her the title of teacher's pet, but she didn't care.

"You're here pretty early, aren't you Miss Albarn?" he inquired.

She smiled without humor. "I just couldn't wait to get here, that's all."

Sid shrugged. They made it to the classroom and Maka settled comfortably into her seat. She was the only student in the room, and Sid was back in the hallway making sure people didn't misbehave in the halls, so she pulled out a book and began reading.

Almost an hour later, class started. She must've gotten there earlier then she thought. School starts at seven, so she must have gotten there around six.

Sid stood at the center of the room, telling kids to behave and listen.

"Now, we have a new student joining our class, so make him feel welcome. Come on in!"

The door opened, and Maka's jaw almost hit her desk. Striding into her classroom, her only sanctuary, was a yellow-garbed monster. He slouched next to Sid, grinning with satisfaction at Maka, exposing his razor teeth.

"This is Soul. He's the newest edition to our group, so treat him with respect. Now, as for where you'll sit, Soul, your seat is right up there."

Terror froze Maka in place as Sid pointed to the empty seat right beside her. Time seemed to slow down as Soul leisurely made his way up the steps and plopped into the seat he'd been assigned. First she couldn't get away from him at home, but now she actually had to sit next to him in class?! Her day, she decided, could not get worse. Her resentment for Soul only grew since his snoring made it hard to focus on Sid's lesson.

She glanced angrily at him, and some of her anger faded. She'd never seen him look so peaceful. She could actually focus on the way he looked for a moment without fear of his snide remarks. He didn't look so bad. He was actually kind of cute.

She immediately wanted to Maka-chop herself. Soul was _not_ cute. He was a jackass and he was messy and snored and pushed her buttons on purpose. Maka glared at his sleeping face, and he shifted like it was giving him a nightmare. She was feeling pleased with herself when a strand of his white hair fell into his face. She had the unreasonable urge to push it back for him, and when she did she found out just how soft his hair was. She couldn't say exactly what it was that possessed her, but she ran her hand through his hair once. He smiled in his sleep and moved a little closer to her. Thoroughly creeped out and upset with herself, Maka tried to focus on her lessons, but she remained aware of the one ruby eye that never strayed from her face.

* * *

When the bell rang to dismiss class for the day, Maka sprang up from her seat faster than she ever had before. She raced out of the room as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself. She could feel Soul's eyes on her back as he watched her go. No way was she walking home with him. Maka made a beeline for her room when she got through the door. She just wanted some solitude at the moment.

"Maka? Can you come out here for a minute?" she heard her papa call. Maka huffed heavily, but she made her way to the living room where Soul and her papa were sitting. Her first thought was that Soul had complained about her to her papa, but Soul didn't seem the type to go crying to an adult. She reluctantly sat on the opposite side of the couch as Soul so they were as far apart as possible.

"I have an announcement to make," her papa informed them. "Maka, your mother and I are getting a divorce."

Maka had been expecting to hear those words for years, but actually hearing them was different. Her life felt like it was still being ripped apart at the seams. It had never been that stable, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She swallowed her pain and tried for an unsurprised face.

"I've known that was going to happen for years. What's your point, Papa?" He flinched at her harshness.

"Well, custody of any children goes to your mother…" He trailed off, and Maka felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe she'd be able to travel with her mother now.

"But since she is, er, absent, and you still need to go to school, there's only one solution." He looked her in the eye. "Maka, I'm moving out."

Maka thought she caught his meaning, but it didn't make any sense. Even Soul was actively listening now. "Wait, you mean…I'll have to live here by myself from now on?"

He looked nervous. "Well, not exactly. Soul is technically one of the kids I'm looking after, and your mom convinced the people at the divorce agency that I'm incompetent when dealing with children, so you have to live here together, and I have to leave."

"No, Papa! I can't live here with…with _him!_" Maka pointed accusingly at Soul as though it were his fault her parents were breaking up.

Soul looked uneasy. "Hey! I don't like this any more than she does! Why do I have to be involved in this?"

The death scythe glared at Soul. "Where else are you going to go, huh? Back to that alley? Neither of you really have a choice in the matter. I'm sorry, Maka."

Maka plastered a fake smile on her face. "Don't worry about it, Papa. I've spent so much time caring for you I'm sure I can handle this boy."

He still didn't look entirely convinced. He glared at Soul. "And if you lay one hand on my Maka, as a death scythe-no, as her father- I will personally kill you, got it?"

Soul looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to go for someone with her flat chest?"

"Are you saying my Maka's not attractive?!"

"Papa," Maka interrupted forcefully. "Is that all you needed?"

He looked at her with a confused expression. "Uh, yeah I guess. Maka?"

She got up and walked to her room. The moment she shut the door, her mask shattered. A tear leaked out and traced its way down her cheek. She shouldn't be sad, she thought, since she'd known this was coming for such a long time. She's not sad, she's not sad, she's not sad. She slowly walked to her bed on shaking legs. She hugged her pillow and tried to stop the tears that wouldn't listen.

* * *

Soul calmly got up from his spot on the couch. This was more of a family matter, a family that he wasn't even a part of. Ignoring the glares Death Scythe gave him as he walked past, Soul headed for his room. He stopped short when he heard what he could've sworn was sobbing coming from Maka's room. He debated whether or not he should care. She had never been nice to him on even one occasion yet. But family problems were something he understood.

He grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly. He poked his head into her room. As he'd thought, she was on her bed, hugging her pillow and crying into it.

"Aw great," he mumbled as he crossed the boundary into her room.

"Go away," she said into her pillow.

Soul stepped further into the room and shut the door quietly behind him, so as not to alert her psychotic father that his precious daughter was alone with a boy. He made his way across the room and sat on the edge of her bed. She glared at him with teary eyes.

"Geez, you're gonna be a handful, huh?" Any protests she might have made turned into a squeak as Soul pulled her to his side. He put his arm around her and she stayed frozen with shock. After a moment she leaned into him and openly cried. Soul just waited for her tears to subside. About a minute later, she wiped her eyes and moved away from him.

"Thanks," she mumbled, unwilling to meet his eyes.

Soul stood up and headed for the door. "Don't expect this from me every time you have a breakdown, alright? I'm not your babysitter."

And with that, he shut the door and headed for his own room, thinking about how maybe, just maybe, this girl wasn't quite as tough as she made herself out to be. He smiled humorlessly. She was just like him that way.


	2. 2: Studying

Author's notes: Wow! Thanks guys! I feel so loved! I don't know when I'll be able to get my next chapter up, but I'm hoping to get it up this weekend.

A special thanks to ilarual, since without their incredibly awesome assistance, Soul wouldn't be quite as Soul-like. I'm still getting a feel for his character, so please go easy on me! I'll try my best to make him better next chapter.

Well, I'm sure you all didn't come here to read all my blabbing, so on with the story!

* * *

Studying

"On Monday," Professor Sid announced at the end of class on Friday, "there will be a test. I'm only warning you because some people"-He looked in Soul's direction-"don't pay attention in class day by day, and they need to time to study, or they won't pass this test."

The bell rang and Maka stood up, sighing. "Looks like I won't have much sleep this weekend," she grumbled.

Soul snorted. "You pay almost a weird amount of attention in class. Why are you gonna study?"

She glared at him. "Because that's what good students do, Soul."

As with every other day before, Maka didn't wait for Soul so they could walk home together. Not that he really cared. Why would he want the reputation of hanging around a teacher's pet like her? She might hurt his cool image.

Yawning, Soul got to his feet. He glanced at the doorway, where he barely caught a glimpse of his hostile roommate before she disappeared into the hall. He shook his head, grinning a little bit. She was probably going to go straight to her room when they got back, so that meant he would be on his own for dinner, like he was most nights. On the rare occasions that Spirit cooked (or more accurately, on the rare occasions what he cooked was edible, seeing as he had a tendency to burn whatever he was cooking) Soul wouldn't have to scrounge around for food. But most nights he just made almost constant food breaks from his homework.

He walked home at his own pace. His stomach growled, and he made it his first priority to get food when he got home. As he walked, his mind drifted. He ended up thinking about Maka's little episode earlier this week. He understood how distraught she'd been, even if he didn't fully understand her. He just couldn't get out of his head how impossibly sad she had looked when she was crying. It just didn't seem like her. She hadn't shown much emotion (just her usual scowl when she looked at him or that annoyed look she got when Spirit was being a pest) since then.

Soul was met by the smell of food cooking when he walked through the door into the apartment. He drooled a little, then realized it was most likely Spirit, and whatever it was would probably end up burned beyond recognition. Just out of curiosity, Soul poked his head into the kitchen. He was thoroughly surprised to find Maka stirring a pot of something on the stove. He took a whiff and identified it as spaghetti.

"I didn't know you could cook," he remarked as he entered the room. Maka started, she had been so focused on her work.

She smiled faintly. "Well, I'm at least better than my Papa."

Soul looked over her shoulder at the food. It both smelled and looked delicious. Soul couldn't help but drool a little bit more at the sight.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a nudge from Maka. "Don't drool in dinner. That's gross."

Soul thought he heard a playful note to her voice. He couldn't be sure, since he'd never heard her make a joke.

"Well, if you aren't much better at cooking than Spirit, maybe my drool would improve the taste," he teased.

A smile played at Maka's mouth. "Go tell Papa the food's ready."

Feeling like maybe they were starting to make some progress, Soul walked the short distance to Spirit's room. Before he could even knock, the door swung open and he was pulled inside.

"What the hell, Death Scythe?" Soul demanded as the door was shut quietly but forcefully behind him.

"I told you to stay away from Maka once, didn't I?" Spirit growled.

Soul sighed. This again? "Oh please. I just made small talk with her."

"Sounded like flirting to me," the over-protective father hissed.

Soul had to resist the urge to laugh. "You really think Maka knows how to flirt?"

Spirit paused. "Come to think of it, I've never heard her flirt…"

Soul shook his head in disbelief. "Since you were being creepy and eavesdropping on us you know that the food's ready, right? I'm starving, so I'm eating with or without you."

He left the room, Spirit still glaring at him. Soul had gotten used to nasty looks from this family. It wasn't that much of an improvement from where he had left, when he thought about it that way.

As it happened, the special dinner was a kind of going-away occasion for Spirit. He said that he'd be officially moved out by tomorrow or he'd be in trouble with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Maka seemed unusually cheerful all throughout dinner, which made Soul suspicious.

Afterwards, Spirit had to finish up any last-minute packing, and Soul offered to help Maka with the dishes. She seemed surprised by his offer, but she accepted it. They mostly worked in silence.

"It's going to be weird without him around," Maka finally remarked.

Soul grinned. "I think it'll be more peaceful."

Maka smiled a little, but she still looked sad. She shook her head, her expression disappearing altogether. "It's what has to be done."

Soul didn't really know what to say to that, so he kept his mouth shut. After they finished their work, Maka went to her room to study, and, though he wouldn't admit to it, Soul did the same.

He didn't understand a thing they'd been talking about the last week, mostly because he'd slept through it, so that made it pretty difficult to study when he had no notes or textbook to study with. This was seriously not cool. He was going to fail this test.

After about an hour of trying to figure out how to deal with his predicament, he decided to get a snack to calm his nerves. He found a bag of chips and headed back to his room. He stopped in front of Maka's door. Maybe when she got up the next time he could swipe a textbook from her or something. No, she'd probably notice that, knowing how unnaturally organized she always was.

He was still staring blankly at her door when it swung open. She was in her pajamas and her hair was down. She looked pretty good, all things considered.

"What is it, Soul?" she asked, not unkindly.

"Nothing." Soul tried to retreat to his room, but she giggled a little bit and he turned back around. "What?"

"You don't have anything to study, do you?"

Soul did his best to hide his embarrassment. "A cool guy like me doesn't need to study."

Maka raised an eyebrow, then disappeared back into her room. He heard her trip on something and it sounded like a stack of papers collapsed, followed by a quiet "Shit!" Soul laughed a little in spite of himself. Maybe she wasn't as organized as she seemed. Maka reappeared in the doorway holding a book in her hands. She held it out to him.

"Here. Study this."

He read the cover. It said "History of the Death Weapon Meister Academy". "How's this supposed to help?"

Maka rolled her eyes. "Sid's been teaching us about the history of the academy and what led to its founding this last week. I'm willing to bet that it'll be the subject of the test."

Soul took the book reluctantly. "But what will you study?"

Maka smiled. "I have my notes, unlike someone, so I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Thanks." Soul wasn't used to this kind of niceness from her. Hell, she was more likely to hit him with a book then tell him to study it. He almost laughed at the thought. Maka was angry a lot of the time, but she wasn't violent enough to hit him with a book.

Maka closed her door and Soul was left in the dark hallway by himself. He returned to his room to study.

* * *

"Watimizzit?" Soul grumbled as he was gently shaken awake. He heard a muffled giggle.

"Soul, how long did you study?" Maka's voice asked.

He lazily lifted his head off his desk and looked at his clock. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he said, "I think I fell asleep around…three?"

Maka giggled again. "Well, as a reward for your hard work, breakfast is ready."

She left his room and he leaned back in his chair. Falling asleep while studying was not cool. He glanced down at the book Maka had lent him, and he tried to flatten the page where his face had crinkled it. He got up and headed for the kitchen.

The moment he opened his door the smell of pancakes filled his nostrils. He meandered into the kitchen. Maka was just putting a large plate of pancakes on the table. Soul sat down and started heaping them onto his plate. Maka gave him a slightly annoyed glance.

"Can you really eat all of that?"

Soul, who had been about to shove an entire pancake in his face, looked at her. The pancake remained suspended in the air from his fork. "Sure I can."

"Alright, let's see this then," she said challengingly. Soul rolled his eyes, but grinned nonetheless.

"You're on." Half an hour and a dozen plate-sized pancakes later, Soul was full. Maka couldn't believe that Soul had actually eaten all of that, but she didn't tell him that. She didn't know it, but Soul could read her like the books she always has. He knew that she was just a little impressed with him. Well, with his appetite, that is.

Maka had started a new batch of pancakes by the time Spirit was up and moving. He shuffled drowsily into the kitchen, too tired to even glare at Soul. Cheered up by Maka's good attitude, Spirit started to look happier. Maka plopped a couple of pancakes onto her father's plate and he started eating.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Soul asked her. She looked caught in a spotlight.

She tried to regain her composure. "I already ate!" she said with now-forced peppiness.

Soul wasn't fooled. He could see through her act.

"Well, Papa's got to be out of here by noon, so we better get moving!" she said quickly, changing the subject.

An hour and a half later, Spirit was heading out the door, his last box of belongings under his arm. He gave Maka a hug goodbye and Soul a death (scythe) glare. "Watch out for my daughter, Soul," he threatened, adding a few sobs at the end. He shut the door, leaving his apartment and daughter behind.

"I will," Soul said quietly. Maka turned on him.

"Why did you have to point it out, Soul?" she demanded.

"Waaah?" Soul asked uncomprehendingly.

She poked him in the chest for good measure. "At breakfast! I was trying to be happy for Papa and not make him sad for leaving me, and you said…" She trailed off, blinking back tears.

Well, now Soul just felt like an ass. "Uh, I'm sorry."

She glared at him, a single tear leaking down her cheek. "You're sorry? This is your fault!"

Soul glared back. "How is any of this my fault?! It's my fault that your parents broke up?! How's that fair to me?"

Maka pulled her hand back like she was going to slap him, and he flinched. Instead, though, Maka ran out of the room, shoving Soul into the wall in the process. He heard her door slam.

"Gonna be fun living with her," he mumbled.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day apart. That night, Soul fell asleep at his desk again, his face mushed into his borrowed textbook.

"Soul!" Maka shouted into his ear Sunday morning. The sound was so loud it scared him.

Before either of them knew what was happening, there was a blade an inch from Maka's side, poised to cut her in half. She squeaked with fear. Soul realized what had happened and quickly retracted the blade. Maka stepped back in terror.

"You…you're a weapon?"

Soul silently cursed himself. He expected Maka to run from him or something, since that was the response most people have when they're almost chopped in half first thing in the morning. She didn't move. She stared at him, not really in fear, like he'd first thought, more in wonder. Unnerved by her unexpected reaction, Soul got up and left, leaving her staring after him.

Soul wandered the city for the rest of the day, even with the Nevada heat in the air. He didn't arrive back at the apartment until late that evening. Maka was still in her room, so he left her book outside her door and went to bed. He expected he'd have to find a new place to live in the morning. Maka might have lived with a weapon before, but that was different since it was her father. Soul flopped onto his pillow, trying to decide if he should go back to that alley in the morning or try to find someplace better.

* * *

A/N: Okay,this chapter was little rushed and I know it shows. I just really wanted to get to the next chapter, so it made it difficult to focus on this one. Anyway, please tell me what you thought of it!


	3. 3: Weapon and Meister

This took a bit longer to get up than expected, but here it is!

* * *

Weapon and Meister

Soul was a weapon. And he wasn't just any kind of weapon-he was a _scythe_, one of the rarest kinds of weapons. The thought that her new albino roommate could be a scythe, her weapon of choice, helped Maka's mood. Sure, he'd almost sliced her in half, but really, she'd provoked him. He was just so infuriatingly insightful that it pissed her off a little. It didn't help that it was one-sided. He could read her, but she couldn't even guess his thoughts.

She became worried when he didn't come home. She thought that maybe he'd never meant to show that he was a scythe and maybe he wouldn't come back at all now. A little bit depressed, Maka sat on the couch. It was obvious that he had scared her, but who wouldn't have been scared in a situation like that? She just hoped that she hadn't scared him, too. She decided it would be best if she didn't try to track him down. That might just upset him more, plus she'd have no idea where to look. She ended up waiting for him on the couch, simultaneously attempting to read and keeping her eyes glued to the front door, waiting for the tiniest movement that signaled him coming inside.

When the clock read 8:30 pm and he still wasn't back, Maka figured that maybe he just wasn't coming back. Disappointed, Maka went to bed. She needed extra rest to make sure she wouldn't fall asleep during the test in the morning.

Little did Maka know, at 8:35, the door opened and Soul crept to his room.

* * *

Maka woke up to sun rays on her face. Normally, that wouldn't worry her, but since her alarm was supposed to wake her up at 5:30, the sun shouldn't be out yet. She rolled over and looked at her clock. It said 6:43. She processed this for a moment.

"I'm gonna be late!" Maka yelled as she threw the covers off of her. She must've been so worried about Soul that she'd forgotten to set her alarm last night. She flew through her room, changing into her clothes. As she was putting up one of her pigtails, she knocked on Soul's door and yelled at him to get moving. As she put up her other pigtail, she threw some bread in the toaster. She scurried through the apartment, plucking the book and notes she'd been looking over last night and putting them in her bag.

Soul wandered out of his room, yawning. He stared at her uncomprehendingly for a second.

"What are you doing? We're going to be late!" Maka barked at him.

He looked at the clock. His eyes widened. "Shit!" He disappeared into his room.

The toast popped up and Maka snatched one of the slices. She popped it into her mouth just as Soul was hurrying out of his room, still sliding his jacket over his shoulders. She tossed the other piece of food at him, and he snapped it out of the air like a dog. She grabbed her bag and they headed out the door.

They hurried to school side-by-side without worry of looking uncool or clumsy, seeing as they had only seven minutes to get all the way to their class. They began ascending the enormous flight of stairs to the DWMA.

Six minutes later, they ran, huffing and sweating and generally looking uncool, into their classroom. The moment they stepped inside, the bell rang. They had made it. They took their seats. Maka carefully glanced at Soul out of the corner of her eye. He spotted her and gave her a crooked grin. She smiled to herself as much as to him.

"Alright, alright, everybody settle down," Sid was saying at the front of class. "It's time for the test. I hope you all studied, because that was your last chance." He began passing out the tests and moving students around to space them out more. Maka and Soul had enough space between them to fit three people. There was something strange about being so far away from him. Sid handed Maka her test and she braced herself.

When all the tests were out, Sid stood at the front of class. "You have one hour. Get started!"

Maka's eyes scanned over the test, answering the questions as accurately as possible. It took her forty-five minutes to complete it. She had checked, rechecked, and triple-checked her answers. Sid told her to just wait out the last fifteen minutes by reading or something. She glanced a few times in Soul's direction to see if he was done, but she couldn't see from how far away she was.

"Alright, hand 'em in!" Sid announced. The room filled with the sound of shuffling papers, echoing off the walls and stifling the eerie silence. Sid put the papers on his desk without bothering to look at them.

"Now, the second part of class today is also somewhat of a test." A few people in the room, Soul included, groaned. Maka tried to not find the dismayed look on his face endearing and failed.

"This isn't just going to go on today, either. This test will span only a matter of hours for some of you, and others it may take the rest of your time at the DWMA." That effectively shocked the room into tense silence. "We are going to open up the doors of the classrooms, and you are to find a suitable partner. You need to find a weapon if you're a meister, and a meister if you're a weapon. Begin your search now!"

He opened up the doors and a few people got up from their seats. Maka and Soul didn't move. They must've been thinking exactly the same thing. They were a weapon and a meister. It made sense, didn't it?

Soul got up and left the room. Maka wondered if he was still bothered by her knowing that he was a weapon. Everyone would know he was a weapon now, because Sid was handing out tags so that you knew at first glance who the weapons and meisters were. Maka fixed her pin in place. She felt proud wearing the tag that read "Meister". Soul had vanished into the halls, so she decided to try and find him. She searched the rest of the day, all throughout the school, and she never found him. When the final bell rang to signal the end of the day, she walked home alone and depressed.

She was tired and frustrated, so she went right to bed. Soul could mope around as long as he wanted. She wasn't going to baby him.

Tuesday morning was much more organized than the day preceding it. Maka woke up on time and prepared at her own pace. She woke up Soul at the exact time he needed to wake up. She made a proper breakfast. She showered. Everything was on schedule.

She left the apartment, right on schedule, but she stopped at the top of the first step. She hadn't quite closed the door yet. She leaned inside. "Soul! Hurry up!"

The weapon was grabbing his jacket and simultaneously trying to consume a donut. He said something that sounded like "Rmmffmmff?" that Maka roughly translated as "You serious?"

"Like it or not, we're walking together," she informed him. He shrugged, finally getting the jacket over his shoulders and taking a bite of his donut. He walked out the door that Maka held open for him. She closed and locked it, expecting to find an empty hallway when she turned back around. Instead she found Soul, waiting patiently for her to put the key in her pocket. He grinned a little bit, like this action confused him too. They walked together in a companionable silence.

* * *

"For the rest of the week we get to just keep looking for a partner?" a weapon girl asked.

"Yeah, that's what Professor Sid told me when I asked," another weapon answered her.

Soul and Maka passed them, Maka picking up the conversation. She sighed with relief. If she could convince Soul to be her partner by then…

She turned around and saw her would-be partner sneaking around a corner, trying to lose her. She chased after him, having to swerve around a group of snobby meisters. She turned the corner and found the hallway abandoned except for the white-haired boy who was walking quickly through it. She called his name, but he didn't slow down. She followed him, determined not to lose him again.

No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to catch up to him enough to talk to him. If he saw her gaining, he'd pick up the pace. At long last she turned the corner and found only a door. She opened it.

Soul was inside, and he was removing his usual bright yellow jacket. She never really paid any attention to what he wore underneath, seeing as the bright outer colors always distracted her too much. However, she was pretty sure he didn't usually wear a red dress shirt beneath it. He picked up another jacket, a formal one, and put it on.

There was a drastic difference in his appearance compared to his casual wear. He was actually standing up straight, his cocky slouch gone. When he turned, Maka saw that his demented grin was also absent. There were a few instruments in the room, and Maka wondered why Soul would lead her all the way to this part of the DWMA, where no one was around. He sat down at a black grand piano. She slowly walked up behind him. Without looking at her, he spoke.

"This is the kind of guy I am."

He started to play, a haunted, slightly mad tune echoing off the walls. Maka listened intently throughout the entire song. This must be Soul's own design, she realized, because it was eerie on the surface, yes, but something about it was also beautiful in its own way. Maka gently swayed to the rhythm. When it stopped, she felt closer to Soul somehow.

He glanced uneasily over his shoulder at her. When he saw her smile, he seemed to relax a little. His grin returned, a little wider than before. He stood up and faced her, as if expecting judgment.

Maka held out her hand to him. "Soul, will you be my weapon partner?"

Soul calmly clasped her hand. "Sure, Maka."

She looked him in the eye. "But first I need to know your last name."

"What for?"

"You know mine! It's only fair. C'mon, just tell me."

He thought for a moment. "Eater."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Soul Eater?"

He nodded. There was a challenging gleam in his eye. "Got a problem with that?"

Maka smiled. "Nope. It fits you, with how much you can eat."

Soul actually laughed at that, the stress and tension vanishing from the room. Maka's knees went a little weak for reasons she couldn't fathom. When he looked at her again, there was such joy in his eyes that Maka's heart skipped a beat.

They released each other's hands. Maka nervously fiddled with one pigtail, avoiding Soul's gaze. He sighed.

"What is it?"

"I-it's nothing!" Maka said.

"Just tell me, would ya?"

She slowly met his eyes. "Would you mind if…could I see your scythe form?"

He didn't look surprised. She had no doubt that he'd been asked that plenty of times. He looked a little stressed as he stared intently at the wall. In a moment there was a bit of light, and then there was a beautiful red and black scythe where he'd been standing. It was leaning against the piano precariously. It started to slip, and Maka instinctively caught it.

That was her mistake. Their wavelengths weren't lined up properly, so the handle burned Maka's hand. She yelped, but she didn't want to drop him on the floor. Ignoring the pain, she leaned him against the wall so she could see what she was going to be working with. The design on the blade itself was breathtaking. There was a single red eye near the blade, and she gasped when it looked at her.

"Well?" a metallic voice asked. It was definitely Soul's, but he sounded different in scythe form.

She smiled. "It's amazing."

If a scythe could blush, she was pretty sure it just would've. "Uh, thanks. D'you mind if I change back now? I can't stay this way for very long."

Maka stepped back. "Oh, right."

Once he was human again, Soul changed his jacket to his regular one, and they went to inform Sid that they'd be partners.

"Hmm. Yup, you're souls should be compatible," Sid said as he checked their wavelengths. He jotted something down on his paper. "Soul…Maka…Done. Alright, you two are now partners. Since you don't have to worry about that now, you can go home. Spend some time together, and come back tomorrow."

Soul looked at him incredulously. "It's eight o'clock. You mean we get to go home already?"

"Yup," was Sid's simple reply.

Soul shrugged. "Cool." He started to walk away, then noticed Maka wasn't following. She was still lost in thought, trying to figure out why her knees had gone weak earlier. She had a theory, but…

"Maka?"

Soul's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Uh?"

"He said we can go home, Space Cadet."

"Oh…oh right."

She decided to ignore the fluttery feeling she felt as she and Soul walked home. It was because he was her partner, she decided. You were supposed to feel different around your partner than other people, right? Right. Maka knew that. She definitely wasn't attracted to him or anything. Her knees had gone weak because she was so relieved. Yeah, that was it. She had a partner, a scythe, at long last. That was all she needed to be thinking about now.

They were almost to the apartment when they heard some maniac screaming at them from up the street. Maka turned to see who it was, and she groaned.

"MAKA!" the boy yelled as he sprinted toward them. He ran up to them, still shouting her name even though they were two feet apart. Maka tried to be patient.

"What is it, Black*Star?" she asked, barely keeping her temper under control. Her overly-jubilant ninja friend was obviously (even more) proud of himself for some reason. Maka also noticed that there was a seemingly timid girl behind him.

"Bet you'll never guess what just happened to the great Me!" Black*Star boasted.

"Who's this guy? And why's he so damn loud?" Soul drawled. Maka admired Soul's ability to sound incredibly bored and annoyed at the same time.

"Soul, this is Black*Star. Black*Star-" Maka didn't get to finish her sentence because he started talking over her.

"Everyone knows who I am! It's me with a capital M! I'm the biggest star on this planet! Anyway, Maka, you're one of the first to notice how great I am, but someone else noticed too! Meet Tsubaki, my new weapon partner!" Black*Star jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the timid girl. Maka got a good look at her for the first time. She was tall, Japanese, and had long black hair. She had an air of elegance about her.

"Nice to meet you," Tsubaki said, her voice a little more than a whisper. What the heck was this quiet girl doing partnering up with the ear-splitting Black*Star?

"Nice to meet you too, Tsubaki. I'm Maka." They shook hands. "And this is-"

"Who's this guy? Another admirer of mine?" Black*Star asked loudly.

Soul grimaced. "Maybe if you listened more and shouted less you'd already know who I am," Soul growled.

"What was that?" Black*Star asked dangerously.

"I said-"

Maka sighed at the two boys started arguing. Tsubaki leaned over to whisper to Maka, "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Maka shook her head. "Just let them get it out of their systems."

A loud clap made both girls look at the pair of boys. Soul and Black*Star were grinning at each other. Black*Star looked at Maka.

"Where'd you find this guy? He's almost as cool as me!"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Soul said.

Maka rolled her eyes. "See?" she told Tsubaki. She turned back to the boys. "Like I tried to tell you, this is Soul, and he's my new weapon partner."

Black*Star stared at her like she'd dropped from space. "You partnered with a _dude?_"

She huffed. "Yes. What's so weird about that?"

"Well, there's your dad-"

"Soul is nothing like that cheating scum, understand me?" Maka said fiercely. She already was a little scared about having a male partner, she didn't need Black*Star reminding her. He backed off.

"Fine. So you guys got out early like Tsubaki and me, huh?" Maka and Soul nodded. "Great! Then you should spend the afternoon with a great star like me!"

"I don't know..." Maka thought back to what Sid had said about spending time with your partner.

"Sure, we'll go," Soul decided for them. Why did he get to choose?

"Alright!" Black*Star started marching triumphantly down the street as though he'd just won a battle, not invited some friends to hang out. As Soul started to walk away, Maka grabbed his sleeve.

"What the heck? Why are you so interested in Black*Star?" she hissed. Though she'd known him a long time, Maka still had a tough time being around the energetic ninja.

Soul glanced at her, but then focused on where they were walking. "Sid said to spend time together. It couldn't hurt to be around these two, right? No matter how incredibly _loud_ he is."

Maka was still suspicious. It seemed to her that Soul just didn't want to be alone with her. It was both a relief and a little saddening.

They spent the entire afternoon with Tsubaki and Black*Star. Occasionally the two boys would argue, but they'd resolve it before anything got too serious. When the sun started to set, they went their separate ways.

"See you in class tomorrow!" Black*Star said.

"What? You're not in our class," Maka pointed out.

He grinned. "Heheh, I am now! I got transferred today!"

Maka tried to suppress her groan of annoyance, and she was pretty sure that only Soul heard it. "Okay, see you tomorrow."

As she and Soul headed for the apartment, Maka debated asking him about why he'd seemed so eager to avoid time with her. If they kept secrets from one another, then soul resonance would become impossible.

"Soul?" she muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Why did you want to hang out with Black*Star and Tsubaki today?"

He risked glancing in her direction. "Well, he's your friend, right?"

Maka stopped. "That's not the point. And why won't you look at me?"

Soul sighed, refusing to turn around. "Can we just go home and talk about this later? I'm tired."

Part of her wanted to drop it, to keep going like nothing was happening, but she couldn't ignore this. "No, we can talk about it now. I want to know Soul. You purposely avoided spending time with me…if you don't like me, it'll be pretty hard to be partners, won't it? Look at me!"

Reluctantly, Soul's eyes met hers. "Look, I just thought it might get kind of…awkward, just the two of us all day, and I thought that annoying runt might ease the atmosphere a bit. Stop making a big deal out of nothing. It's not cool." He continued his walk.

She still had questions she wanted answers to, but she figured that was the best she'd get right now. They'd just have to take this partner thing slow. Maka could handle that, right? She just had to give it some time. They'd only known each other for three weeks now, so there shouldn't be so much of a rush on things. She caught up with him.

"Your right. Sorry, Soul."

He grinned. "Don't worry about. You can make up for it by cooking dinner tonight."

There it was again. Maka's knees had gone weak. She just managed to keep walking in a straight line. Why didn't that happen with anyone else? She nodded, taking off at a run, yelling, "Race ya there!"

"Aw, c'mon, Maka! That's not fair!" He sprinted after her.

What he wasn't aware of was his new partner's fear. She wasn't scared of him. She couldn't be. To the contrary, she was scared of how much she trusted him. And why wouldn't that stupid fluttery feeling go away? Why did she get that warm sensation when he was around? Why was her heart racing? What was going on?!

* * *

A/N: Okay, maybe a wee bit cliche, I'll admit. Sorry. I'll try to veer away from that next chapter, I swear! I should be able to get a lot of writing done this weekend (I had hoped that I could get this one up last weekend, and seeing as it's Thursday, I failed more than a little bit). I'd love to know what you think! Please review!


	4. 4: Guilt

Guilt

"_Watch out for my daughter, Soul."_

He'd promised that he would. It wasn't cool to break a promise. But how could he watch out for Maka when he was as dangerous as he was? Soul could hardly control his transformations yet. How could he hope to protect her from other dangers if he couldn't protect her from himself?

Soul shook his head, sighing. He'd gotten himself into quite the mess this time. He trudged to the couch, collapsing onto the cushions as Maka headed for the kitchen. The air conditioning had been on while they were gone, thank Lord Death, so it was cool in the apartment. Running in the heat hadn't been pleasant, but mostly Soul was just bitter because he'd lost the race. And he'd only lost because he'd been so distracted.

The smell of food cooking brightened his mood a little. He waited a reasonable amount of time, then went into the kitchen to get some. He discovered that they were eating some lasagna for dinner. He must've spaced out longer than he'd first thought, judging how long it took to make that stuff. The pair mostly ate in silence.

At the end of the meal, Maka took his plate for him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, getting lost in his worried thoughts again.

Soul was so distracted that he literally jumped slightly when something touched him. He froze in shock as Maka wrapped her slender arms around him.

"What…?"

"You looked like you needed a hug," she whispered, her head resting on his shoulder.

The unexpected show of affection was still surprising to him. After another moment of hesitation, he leaned his head against hers. "Thanks."

She smiled and straightened back up. "Come on, I'm not doing all these dishes by myself.

As they worked in comfortable silence, Soul was still lost in his head, but his thoughts were much less dark than they had been all day. It was finally dawning on him that he had a partner now, someone who he could actually learn to trust. Maka wasn't just a responsibility; she was there for him too. He'd always pulled away from human contact, but she was so gentle that he didn't mind her. He found himself grinning slightly at this realization.

"What is it?" Maka asked, breaking his thoughts.

He looked into her emerald eyes and a wave of relief washed over him. He wasn't alone anymore.

"S-Soul? Are you feeling alright?" she asked as he continued to stare at her.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Mm-hmm. C'mon, let's finish these so we can relax."

They continued working, but Soul felt a bit more at peace.

He caught himself gazing at her more often in the days that followed. Once he caught on to it, it scared him a little bit. He had to stop that before Maka noticed. He had to stop because a) staring wasn't cool, and b) she'd probably think he was weird once she noticed.

Too late he realized this. Maka had caught him staring for the thousandth time while they were at lunch. She had already finished eating and was reading a book, Black*Star chatting away on the opposite side of the table. Tsubaki was probably the only one who ever really listened to his rants. Soul, bored out of his mind, stared off into space. That space, unfortunately, was occupied by Maka. She snapped the book shut.

"Any reason you're staring at me?" she asked, trying to be polite but her irritation shone through.

"No."

"Then why do you keep doing it?" Oh shit, she _had _noticed!

"Because you're there, I guess," was his weak attempt to get out of trouble.

Her look turned skeptical, then her face darkened. "Oh no."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You don't…you don't have a-a crush on me or something?" Her face turned a deep shade of pink after she finished her statement.

Soul sat up straight, something he rarely did. "What? Where the hell did that assumption come from?"

Maka huffed with annoyance. "Well, what other reason is there?"

Deciding to avoid the question, Soul instead mumbled, "Like I'd go for someone with your flat chest."

Maka turned even redder, and their conversation was finally picked up by Black*Star and Tsubaki. "Makaaaaa…"

Soul stared at her in confusion. His question was answered when the book she'd been reading met his face with surprising force. "CHOP!"

"Damn you're violent! What the hell was that for?!" he yelled, rubbing his forehead where the book had connected.

"That was for being an insensitive jerk."

"Insensitive? You're _too _sensitive!" he shot back.

Maka glared at him, and he was surprised to find hurt in her eyes. "Just forget it."

She turned away from him, burying herself back in her book.

"How can I when there's going to be a welt on my forehead the size of a grapefruit?"

"Makaaaaa…" she threatened.

"Fine." He huffed and leaned heavily on the table. He knew he'd dodged a bullet by insulting her, but that didn't make the comment any less hurtful to her. He didn't want to rely on rude remarks to talk to people the way he had in the past. He couldn't afford to lose the only person that trusted him.

"Um, are you two alright?" Tsubaki asked, quiet as usual.

Maka didn't even bother to look up from her book as she and Soul said in harmony, "We're fine." Embarrassed by Tsubaki's horribly hidden giggles and Black*Star's confused stare, Soul focused on eating his food and ignoring them.

Soul must've replayed that scene in his head fifty million times in the next week. There were so many things he could've said, so many things he shouldn't have said. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her about the mini explosion. Without really realizing it, Soul started to drift away from her. Their conversations were short and filled with tension. They bickered frequently. Maka spent more time around Tsubaki than Soul. He hated the distance between them, but he didn't know how to fix it.

On Friday night, Soul got fed up with the whole situation. He wasn't really mad at Maka as much as at himself. He got a movie that night and decided to just forget reality for a while. As he was putting the disk in, Maka muttered something about doing some studying. That was all she ever did anymore, so it was no surprise to him.

He sat down heavily on the couch with a sigh. The movie started and he fast forwarded through some of the ads at the beginning.

"What are you watching?" Soul jumped. He hadn't even heard Maka creep out of her room to peer at him from around the corner.

"_Back to the Past._ It's a movie about a Death Scythe whose family got killed, so they, uh, time travel to the past to stop it." He cringed inwardly at how dumb the movie sounded when he described it. To his surprise, Maka padded over to the couch and sat down.

"I'll watch it with you. If you don't mind," she said quietly.

"Sure."

He hit the play button, and they were both focused on the movie. Within the first few minutes, there was a suspense scene. A family was walking down a dark street after their car broke down, and they were being followed. Soul could tell that Maka was tense, so it wasn't surprising when the stalker popped out from the shadows and Maka squeaked. What he wasn't expecting, though, was what she did after that. She scooted over to his side of the couch and frantically grabbed his arm.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Y-yeah," she said. She was still shaking a little, but she let go of him.

"A lot of the movie's going to be like this, you know," he warned.

"I can handle it!" Maka said confidently, though her voice shook.

She jumped again as something else jumped out on the screen. Soul wasn't watching the movie now. He was more interested in Maka's reaction to it. He tried not to laugh when she squealed with terror as a person was beheaded. His sniggering was audible, though.

"Hey! Don't poke fun!" She prodded him in the chest, and he started laughing. She started pouting, so Soul gently pulled her closer. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. The next time someone was killed brutally, she still squeaked an averted her eyes.

Soul didn't want to cross any boundaries, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable during the whole movie either. Tentatively, he put his arm around her shoulders. She froze up for a moment, and Soul's heart pounded louder than the movie. After a second of hesitation, Maka leaned into him. She rested her head on his chest, and he fervently hoped that she couldn't hear his racing heart. She stopped shivering, and Soul couldn't help the warm feeling he got from her being so close.

They stayed that way throughout the movie, and both were reluctant to move when the movie was over. When Maka got up, Soul felt like a piece of him was missing. As he put the DVD away, Maka said she was going to bed. He nodded in reply. As he was changing into his pajamas, he still couldn't believe what had happened. He and Maka had basically just cuddled for the last hour and a half.

He slipped under the covers, feeling more at peace than he had in over a week.


End file.
